Hello guys, this is Pluto, and I am leaving in 3 days. I will be in China 1 day ahead of you guys. Really excited to go home although it is not my home town. I am junior student majoring pre medicine, and I would love to learn the other aspect of medicine. I am working in San Diego now, and I am busy and happy. Looking forward to see you guys in Beijing.
I am about five hours away from heading to the Portland Airport to begin my trip to Queretaro, Mexico. I am honestly feeling very anxious to go on this trip alone. I’ve actually been to Mexico a few times, being that my dad is from a Guadalajara, Jalisco. I haven’t been to Mexico in about 13 years so to say that I know what’s is waiting for me would be a lie.
This is a taco stand that I remember are everywhere in Mexico and if my memory serves me right they always have the best tasting tacos. You do have to be careful to what you’re eating simply because your stomach isn’t ready for some of the foods and will make you sorry for eating that kind of food. So, I will be watching what I eat for sure.
This is a Catholic Church and even thought I don’t know where this one is located I can tell you that there will be something similar to it close to where I’ll be for the next six weeks.
I am very excited for this chapter in my life and I can’t wait to fast forward to next year when I can say that this trip has been the best thing I have done throughout my college days. Until next time. Hasta luego.
Hello everyone!
Before I make my pre departure post I just want to introduce myself really quick. My name is Aaron Cole and I will be studying spanish in Queretaro, Mexico for 6 weeks. I picked this trip because I wanted to better my spanish skills, and I know that there is no better way to do that other than to go to be immersed in a spanish-speaking country. I am minoring in spanish, so this program is a really great opportunity to get some credits that I need and greatly improve my spanish. I know several other people who have done this trip in the past and I have heard nothing but great things about is, so I am really excited to go!
(I am especially excited about the food)
I am going up to Portland tonight and catching a plane tomorrow morning, so the moment of departure is finally here. The entire summer I knew it was coming, but it hasn’t really sunk in until now. Part of me still doesn’t really believe all the way that is it happening. I know I will get off the plane in Mexico City and be overwhelmed with all the spanish, but I will get used to it.
One of my goals for my time in Mexico is to look as little as possible like a gringo. I realize that this will be extremely difficult since I am really white with blonde hair and blue eyes, but I want to fit in as much as possible. I want to experience the culture from the inside rather than see it from the outside like a tourist.
I will try to blend in better than these guys
Now I think I will go spend the next 24 hours or so switching my mind over to spanish so that I’m not so culture shocked tomorrow.
I am physically and mentally exhausted so no photos right now. Lately, my only respite has been in airports and I still have 20 hours to go. I’m excited to finally get to Berlin, I’ve spent the last 30 days hating life at Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington for the ROTC LDAC. After spending half of that time in the field and living deprived of all electronics and any other facet of normal life (simply for the sake of being unpleasant), the return to civilization will be a welcome change, provided Berlin isn’t a sensory overload for me. This will be a difficult transition and a slow start, I left during finals week and couldn’t touch my computer until the day I left for Germany, and I haven’t taken a language class in over a year. To make sure I was prepared I did my best to research German customs and culture. My intent is to blend in as best I can and not look like a tourist foreigner. I’ve been in Germany three times before but only for a few hours flying through, and even then I was locked down in an isolated terminal. From what little experience I have and from what I’ve read/heard Germany should seem pretty familiar to me; organized, clean, polite. I’m expecting there to be an ever-present stark contrast between modern Germany and centuries old Germany. I definitely don’t feel prepared for this but that’s my first challenge and half the fun.
I leave for London the day after tomorrow and I am so excited! I’ve been busy working on assignments and getting ready that it just hit me a few days ago that I’m really going to London for an entire month! I do not really have any preconceived notions about what the culture will be like, I’m just ready to go and explore and learn about live in London. I have many things already planned out from class field trips and weekend explorations but I am also ready to go on spontaneous adventures.
A small sampling of the things I’m hoping to see….
The Globe Theatre
The Colin Firth, Mr.Darcy statue in London’s Serpentine lake
Highland cattle in Scotland
I cannot wait to leave, see you in a few days London!
I leave for London in four days! Such a short time and still so much to do! I have been spending so much of my time finishing assignments and readings for my classes that are due when I arrive that I have not been able to give the city itself much thought! The CCSA group started a facebook page that has been so helpful. They have been posting about general travel advice to tons of things to do in London. I hope in the next few days to finally get to look through those sites, but I’m also excited to just see what comes. I usually make plans well in advance for things to do, but I’m really excited to just spur of the moment go and see a play with people or on a day off hop on the tube and explore the city.
I don’t have a ton of preconceived notions about London or the people. I have been there once before about six years ago and only for two nights, so I really don’t remember much except the sights. I’m open to meeting new people and experiencing a new culture, especially the food! : )
London has always struck me as very regal and I think this picture represents that.
I leave for London in 5 days, and I can hardly believe it! I feel like I have been planing this trip for a very long and now it is finally happening. I am very excited and I am looking forward to all the adventures my trip holds. I have never been to London, let alone England, so it will be a completely new experience for me.
I believe my host culture will be very inviting and accepting. I would love to meet some individuals from London and be able to talk to them about their culture, and how it differs from my own here in the U.S. I have heard people do not drink to the same state that we do in the U.S. I heard in London they drink to enjoy each sip, and make it more of a social action, that an action to change their state of mind. I hope to learn what the main differences are that lie between our two cultures.
I am VERY excited! As of now, I have no apprehensions, just excitement. My mom backpacked through London when she was my age. It will be really interesting to see if I can relate to some of the same things she did, and see how other things have changed.
Until next time, Kylen
At this point I am very excited for this program and a little nervous! I am very thankful that we have Carmen with us! I expect that there will not be very many cars in Queretaro. Really Im not sure what to expect. Because i have been to Spain I kinda think i will be similar but i am really not sure. Well thats all for now!
I have been waiting for this trip for so LONG and now it’s right around the corner! I can’t wait for all the things I’ll get to do and people I’ll get to meet! I’m so excited! I’m also really nervous about switching to the whole Spanish thing 24/7. However, I’ve done it before with Arabic in Kuwait…but I also already know Arabic. Anyways. I think that Arab and Mexican cultures are very similar so I might fit right in, but we’ll see about that. I expect a lot of green everywhere, like grass and trees and bushes. Some flowers too maybe! The food is going to be delicious…I hope…cause I LOVE mexican food!
It’s four in the morning the day I am supposed to leave for Argentina, and I have finally finished packing the last of my things. I have a very vague sense of what Argentina will look like or what the people will look like because I have spent little time up till now researching it. Not because I was lazy, but I felt weird and awkward spying on another culture and expecting any information about Argentina from a second hand source. My approach is that I want to go into Argentina with an open mind and not treat or view anyone differently than I would if I had met them at WOU or somewhere in the US.
This is a picture of the plane that of the plane that I will have taken from the Houston Airport to Buenos Aires, a 10.5 hour trip.
Going into this journey I feel slight apprehensive because my Spanish skills aren’t that great, and I haven’t studied the Argentine accent or their use of the “vos” form that much so I’m worried about being able to communicate with others while I am there. I am also entering the country with a little amount of money because my financial aid money has been very slow to come through. I am sure that these factors will not prevent me from enjoying myself in Argentina.
